


The Sun Kissed The Moon Goodnight

by MyJediLife



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ashla & Bogan, Badass Rey, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, Devoted Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker, Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi, Force Lightning, Force Soulmates, Force Visions, HEA, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Jedi Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren Redemption, May the Force Be With You, Mutual Pining, Psychological Torture, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey Needs A Hug, Reylo Children, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Rey/Kylo Ren, That's Not How The Force Works, The Force, The Force Ships It, Torture, Trapped, Tumblr: reylofanfictionanthology, Violence, trapped together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26671123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyJediLife/pseuds/MyJediLife
Summary: This is the story of how a curse was broken by true love, and how Murakami Orchids came to grow there, it all started many years before the beginning of our tale, though, in a green forest on the planet called Takodana, when the planet Mustafar could be seen in the night sky from there—a deep, dark hole where no stars shone…
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 35
Collections: To Rapture the Earth and the Seas: the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology





	1. Chapter 1

“Momma? Can you tell me the story again?”

The tiny brunette girl lay snuggled in her bed, her favorite stuffed Lothcat clutched tightly in her chubby little arms as she looked up at her mother. Her large eyes were wide and hopeful.

Chuckling, the woman settled onto the bed beside her daughter, a bemused smile on her face as she remarked, “Aren’t you tired of hearing that same old story, little one?”

“Oh no, Momma! Ashla and Bogan’s story is my favorite story ever!” The little girl grinned, nodding her head vigorously as she snuggled even deeper into her blankets, settling in for the story she already knew her mother would give in to repeating.

With a small, exaggerated sigh, the woman bit back a grin as she started the story. “Have you ever heard of the planet Mustafar? Our story begins there.”

The little girl murmured, “I know about Mustafar, Momma! That’s the lava planet, right? Where the bad people lived, because they liked the Dark Side of the Force, and they liked Darth Vader, too!”

“Yes, that is true, but do you remember what Master Skywalker has been teaching you, little one? About how using the Dark Side of the Force doesn’t make you a bad person?” The woman brushed some hair off her daughter’s face softly, letting a smile jump onto her lips.

“Yes, Momma. Uncle Cade is teaching us about balance, about how we can use both sides of the Force as long as the dark side is balanced with the light side. Uncle Cade said we’re related to Darth Vader, Momma—is that right?”

The woman pursed her lips for a moment in thought before speaking. “We are, sweet one. Even the feared Darth Vader wasn’t completely evil, though. He was redeemed and melded into the Force when his life here ended.”

“I understand Momma. Will you tell the story now?” The little girl hugged her stuffed animal close to her. The woman simply smiled before leaning down and planting a soft kiss to her daughter’s cheek.

“Once upon a time in a Galaxy far, far away…” The woman began before being interrupted once more by her offspring.

“There was a lava planet called Mustafar!” The little girl’s voice rang out into the room, and she giggled when her mother reached down and tickled her side.

“Are you going to keep interrupting, little one? Do you want me to tell you the story, or are you going to tell it yourself?”

“I’ll be quiet, Momma. I like how you tell it!”

“Ok then. Once upon a time, in a Galaxy far, far away, there was a lava planet called Mustafar. It wasn’t a very nice place to live. You see, the Dark Side of the Force was strong there, and because of that the soil and rock had been tainted so much that nothing would grow.”

The woman looked at her daughter, smiling at her once more as she reached down to brush hair off her face that had fallen there. “This is the story of how a curse was broken by true love, and how Murakami Orchids came to grow there, it all started many years before the beginning of our tale, though, in a green forest on the planet called Takodana, when the planet Mustafar could be seen in the night sky from there—a deep, dark hole where no stars shone…”

….

“The girl I’ve heard so much about.” Kylo Ren’s voice was monotone as it came through the vocoder of his mask, and yet the woman before him could do nothing but glare and bare her teeth at him. She looked feral, almost.

His saber crackled ominously as he circled her like prey, watching her intently before stopping in front of her and saying, “The droid.” He brought his saber up to illuminate her face, his eyes boring into her as he asked, “Where is it?” He tilted his head to one side as he watched her, extinguishing his lightsaber before reaching out with one hand, using the Force to probe inside her mind. 

Normally, he would rip and tear through a person’s mind to get what he wanted—but he was gentle with this girl. Something was telling him she was different, that this meeting was one that would change his world forever.

The girl—Rey, her name was Rey—strained underneath the probe, and Kylo was fascinated by the inner workings of her mind, after a moment he uttered, “The map. You’ve seen it.” He let his gloved fingers touch her face, her teardrops coating the leather as he took a few moments more to look inside her mind.

A series of explosions pulled his attention away from the girl’s freckled face, and he turned to see two Stormtroopers standing nearby. “Sir, Resistance fighters! We need more troops!”

Kylo turned back towards Rey, his fingers still touching her cheek, and as he looked into her eyes once more, he felt something twist and pull deep within him, and he uttered his orders without looking away from her face. “Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need.” He pulled his hand off Rey’s face, and found he was slightly disappointed that she looked relieved. _Doesn’t she feel it, as well? This pull to the other?_

With a small wave of his hand and a slight exertion of the Force, the girl fell unconscious, going limp into his arms as he scooped her up and carried her towards his command shuttle.

As he settled into a seat, still holding the girl’s limp form in his arms, he gave the order to lift off to head back to the Finalizer. His eyes were back on Rey a moment later, his eyes looking over every inch of her face as she slumbered in a Force induced sleep.

“Sir?” A nervous-looking officer stood before him, almost shaking as he kept his eyes cast downward in respect. “Sir… we are having an issue with the navicomp.”

Kylo glared at the man, letting his voice display his displeasure so he didn’t have to stand and disturb Rey’s slumber. “What _kind_ of _issue_?”

The man shuffled his feet nervously before removing his First Order issued cap, wringing it in his hands before muttering, “The coordinates we put in to the Finalizer, sir. The ship seems to be veering off course.”

“Veering off course. Bypass the navicomp then and fly it manually. This isn’t the pilot’s first mission, I am sure.” Kylo’s eyes burned with fury as he tried to resist standing and making an example of the man.

“He has done so, sir. Several times. But…” The man shuffled his feet once more, not making eye contact with Kylo as he wrung the cap in his hands again. “Sir, the ship is headed to the Mustafar system.”

“The _Mustafar_ system?” Kylo growled, standing now, turning briefly to place Rey down on one of the long benches meant for troops to sit on. He towered over the officer, who was now trembling, his eyes remaining on the duracrete floor of the command shuttle.

**_The mighty Skywalker blood runs through your veins, Kylo Ren._ **

The voice came into his head as he stared at the officer, feeling the rage boiling in his veins, his hand itching to call his lightsaber to his hand. The rage wanted him to take, to kill and consume, to feed it with blood and terror. He turned his head slightly when he heard—no, he _felt_ —the girl move slightly, and a calm settled over him.

**_The girl is your key. Mustafar is yours by blood, by lineage. Go there and do what Vader was too weak to do. Go there and become what you were always meant to be. Your answers are there—and you won’t be able to leave until you find them. As mighty as the Force is inside you, Ben Solo—the dark mark Anakin Skywalker—your grandfather—left upon the Force must be atoned for. Thus, your punishment begins…_ **

Fists clenched and brows furrowed, Kylo looked at the Officer, his eyes blazing behind his visor. “Send a message to General Hux explaining that we are heading to Mustafar to continue our search.”

….

Fortress Vader loomed before the viewport of the command shuttle, and Kylo stood beside the pilot watching as they made an approach. He didn’t know just what he had expected—but it wasn’t the silence they were experiencing, for sure. Blasts from a laser cannon, perhaps, or a platoon of Stormtroopers waiting to attack as soon as they landed.

Instead, the command shuttle glided to the dock outside the tall spire without incident, and as the door opened, Kylo sent his troops out first to scout the area while he went back to the girl. It had been hard to leave her unconscious on the bench, but he could show no weakness when he was in command.

He looked down upon her still unconscious form, something twisting once more inside him. The mighty Kylo Ren hadn’t felt affection for anything in quite a long time, but he could feel it bubbling up from the murky depths of his soul as he examined her sun kissed face, dotted with freckles that he suddenly wished he could map out with his fingers.

An officer clearing his throat behind him made Kylo half turn to look at the man, who looked like he wanted to be parsecs away from the dark warrior. “What?” Kylo said, his fingers threatening to push forward and clamp around the man’s neck for interrupting his silent examination of the girl’s face.

“Lord Ren, Sir, the fortress is empty of anything but droids and supplies.”

“Very well. Pull the troops back and let me know when they are all assembled back on board.” Kylo turned back to the girl once more, relieved when the officer’s footsteps carried him away to do his bidding. Soon, he would be alone with her, and maybe he could figure out what called to him from within her.

_Why did the Force bring you to me? It never does anything without a reason—without a price to pay. Why you? Why are you a punishment?_ Kylo mused to himself while he waited for the officer to return. His eyes travelled over the girl once more, and he tilted his head to one side as he let them rake over her from head to toes.

**_You’ll find out soon enough, Heir of Vader_ ** _,_ the voice intoned once more in his mind, and Kylo let out a low, feral growl, his hand shooting out to slam against the durasteel wall, leaving a deep depression behind in its wake. Hearing footsteps once more, Kylo turned just as the officer entered the room again.

"The troops have all returned, Lord Ren," the man gulped, eyeing the fractured wall with some trepidation.

Kylo nodded curtly before reaching down to scoop the girl into his arms once more. Stepping past the officer, Kylo paused in the doorway to say, "Once I reach the fortress with the girl, you will take this shuttle back to the Finalizer to report to General Hux. Do you understand?"

The man swallowed hard before nodding. “Yes, Lord Ren.”

Kylo continued through the vessel, everyone he encountered stepping to the side—unwilling to make a noise lest he notice and turn his powers on them.

He stepped off the ramp onto the black soil of Mustafar. The air was acrid and humid, the smell of sulphur hanging heavily in it. Glancing around, Kylo started towards the fortress, the black spire rising into the darkness above them until it blended into it.

Kylo had been here before, when he made his lightsaber crystal bleed. All his energy had been focused on that particular task, and he had his Knights waiting in his shuttle for him—so he hadn’t had time to explore the fortress his Grandfather had built.

He stepped inside, the doors making a hydraulic hiss closing behind him, and as he scanned the familiar room, Kylo wanted to snarl once more as the voice whispered in his head again.

**_Did you think you could go without paying a price, Kylo Ren, for all the blood you have spilled in the name of the darkness? Someone has to pay for your family’s sins._ **

The sound of his boots against the duracrete floor was the only sound as Kylo made his way deeper into the fortress, seeking out the living quarters he was certain existed within the building.

Finally he reached a wing that contained the living quarters, and as he deposited the girl onto a bed until she woke, he couldn’t help himself—he dipped into her mind once more, closing his eyes as he let her inner light wash over him. It was so brilliant, filling in every crack in his soul and soothing all the broken edges that had cut him so deeply for so long.

He reached out with a gloved hand, letting the leather caress the girl’s cheek almost reverently for a moment before standing, glancing around to find a light blanket to cover her with. He let himself gaze upon her a few more moments before turning and exiting the room, determined to find quarters suitable for his needs—and to explore the fortress more.

….

“I thought you’d be shorter…”

Kylo had just finished setting up his quarters to his satisfaction and stood in the command center of the fortress, eyeing the holofeed from outside the fortress, when an unsettling feeling came over him, followed by the voice ringing out into the relative silence he had grown used to.

Kylo turned, taking in the form of a sandy-haired man in Jedi robes, a blue line shimmering around him. Kylo sneered at him before remarking, “And just who are you? Why is the Force deciding to make you appear now, after I am trapped here against my will?”

The man gave a low chuckle, moving forward, and Kylo could see a familiarity in the man’s eyes, though he couldn’t discern just _why_.

“The Force does have interesting ways of teaching lessons sometimes. I know that for a fact. But you, Ben Solo, you—unfortunately—are being held hostage to atone for sins of your bloodline. Take that helmet off—you don’t need it here. I know the anger and hostility seething inside you, boy. I know—because I felt it myself, and it destroyed everything and everyone I ever loved.”

Kylo reached up, pressing the button to release his helmet, and the cool air of the fortress hit his face in a rush as he looked at the man once more without the security of it. “Please, instill me with your wisdom,” the dark warrior drawled, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. The last thing he needed was a Force ghost’s sob story to try and show him the error of his ways. His Master’s training had given him all he needed, after all.

The ghost looked at him once more, “Ah, you want to trust your Master’s training instead of listening to the whispers from the Force, is that it?” The man gave a sad laugh before tilting his head to one side. “Ben, I had hoped my grandson would learn from my mistakes—not try to emulate me! I lost everything, and now… now the Force is making you pay the price for the blood I shed. Please, please don’t make the same mistakes as I did!”

Kylo took a step towards the force ghost, tilting his head to one side in a gesture that almost mirrored Anakin’s own. “Who is the girl? Why am I so… drawn to her?”

….

Rey came to with a gasp, cool, recirculated air hitting her face as she opened her eyes. The last thing she remembered was being in the forest on Takodana, a monster in a mask stalking her with a spitting red lightsaber.

Where was she now? Had she been knocked out by the man, and then been rescued by Han, Chewie and Finn? 

“Hello?” she called out, and then a chill swept through her as she felt _something_ brush up against her, but it was in her _head_. It wasn’t frightening or threatening—just unnerving in a way Rey had never experienced before.

Moving from the bed— _who covered me up with a blanket?_ —Rey wondered as she looked around the room. She supposed the room was simple for most beings—but it seemed opulent to a simple scavenger like her. The walls were made out of white duracrete, and as she explored, she found a refresher bigger than her entire AT-AT on Jakku. A large, deep tub rested within it, as well as a shower area, a dressing area with a large mirror, and, as Rey opened a door, a large closet filled with dresses made from fabrics and silks that she had never even fathomed existed.

Surely, she would feel a sense of danger if there was any—she had in the forest. Instead, she felt a sense of rightness she hadn’t felt before. _What_ **_is_ ** _this place?_ Rey thought as she let her hands drift out to touch the shimmersilk dresses in colors she didn’t even have a name for.

Something brushed against her mind again, bringing Rey back to the problem at hand. She had to figure out where she was.


	2. Chapter 2

Kylo knew the moment the girl woke, his attention pulled away from his Grandfather’s ghostly visage for a moment as he used the Force to check on her. She appeared to be fully awake now, her Force signature giving off an aura of confusion, followed by curiosity.

It was almost endearing.

“Who is the girl?” Kylo asked his grandfather acerbically, his eyes narrowed as he looked the former dark lord over from head to toe.

Anakin let a smile come over his face briefly. “Perhaps you are more like me than we thought. As for the girl, all I can tell you is that she is part of the Force’s plan for you, Ben. Speaking of that…” Anakin moved towards a chair in front of the large control panel in the room, settling into it and looking up at Kylo. “We need to talk about why you’re here.”

Kylo wanted to snort and roll his eyes at his grandfather. Clearly, Luke was his son. “So, it is true. All Skywalker’s are experts at being vague. Good to know.”

Anakin snorted and shook his head. “In all seriousness, Ben, the reason the Force brought you here—and is keeping you here—is because of me. I have a sneaking suspicion the girl is trapped here as well. The Force likes to teach lessons and atone for past sins the hard way, it seems.”

“Stop. Calling. Me. By. That. Name.” Kylo stood, feeling the familiar rage rising to the surface as he moved nearer to the ghost, sneering at him. “That’s not my name anymore. It hasn’t been for a long time. That…  _ boy _ \- he was weak. So I killed him. I’m not a man to be trifled with now.”

“Ah, I see. I thought that once as well, all because the same man was manipulating me, also. He put thoughts in my head—awful thoughts—and then gave me a false sense of security that  _ he _ could help me overcome all my fears. Sound familiar?”

Kylo continued glaring at the man, trying not to let him see how much his own experiences mirrored the ghostly visage before him. “Hardly. I fail to see how someone who has been dead for three decades can help me in my current situation.”

Anakin shook his head, biting his bottom lip to hold in a smirk. “I thought the same thing. I thought Palpatine could help me. I thought he would give me everything I needed to save Padme, to keep her safe. Instead, I lost everything and everyone I loved. My mother, my wife, my children. All gone. I rained blood and death on the Galaxy to compensate for my own pain—but in the end, my own son showed me that even the great Lord Vader could come home to the light. You’re being manipulated, Ben. Snoke and Palpatine are the same, and he only wants you for your power, for the bloodline you come from. Please, don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

“What does this have to do with me being stuck on this heap of molten bantha offal? Could you just get to the point? I don’t need a rundown of the oh so fascinating Skywalker family history.” Kylo shifted, going to the control panel and looking at the aurebesh telling him that everything was calm outside the fortress. He didn’t want to look at the ghost sitting near him—he saw too much of himself in the man, if he was being honest with himself.

He was hardly ever that. Being honest about his inner turmoil and feelings had never done him any good.

Anakin sighed. “Always so impatient. Obi-Wan is probably laughing right now. He always told me I was impatient and spontaneous. Clearly, that is in our bloodline still.” He stood from the chair, coming to stand next to his grandson.

“Charming. Now could you please get to the point?” Kylo huffed out a breath, letting his annoyance show. He could feel the girl moving about the quarters he had settled her in, and he wanted to go to her, to try and figure out what was going on.

_ Does she feel it too? The pull to each other? _

“She does,” his grandfather answered his mental musings, looking up at him. “I’m not sure how to explain it other than this—you and the girl are bound to one another. In the Force. She’s just becoming aware of her powers, though. She needs a teacher, clearly.”

“Bound? To each other?” Kylo narrowed his eyes again, sneering at Anakin. “The Force is clearly confused then. Why would it want me bound to someone?”

Anakin shrugged. “You know how the Force works. Mysterious and all, only telling you bits and pieces until it reveals the whole puzzle. The one thing I am certain of, though, is that the Force is keeping you here until the sins of your bloodline have been atoned for, and balance is restored. I-I’m sorry, Ben. For being the catalyst to all this.”

Kylo whipped his head around, taking a step closer to Anakin. “You’re saying that I am trapped here because you—the great Lord Vader—didn’t pay your debt to the Force? And now I am bound to some girl who doesn’t realize she is Force sensitive, until I can figure out how to return balance to the Force?” Kylo stood to his full height, calling his lightsaber to his hand and igniting it as rage surged through his blood like quicksilver.

Anakin simply rolled his eyes now, “Really, Ben? You want to slice me apart with your lightsaber all because I screwed up thirty years ago? Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

“I’d feel better if I could,” Kylo mumbled, instead tossing the weapon across the room and watching smugly as it sliced a service droid in half. He called it back to his hand, extinguishing it and clipping it back to his belt.

The destruction hadn’t helped. He still felt the rage roiling beneath his skin, a caged beast waiting to be released.

“Some things never change,” Anakin muttered as he faded away, leaving Kylo to let out a roar as he slammed his fist down on the chair his grandfather’s ghost had been occupying earlier.

….

_ Something _ was awake inside her, a voice whispering in her mind in a language she couldn’t understand. Rey stood still, trying to discern just what the voice was, and if she should be scared of it. 

It seemed like a caress instead of an assault against her mind, so Rey simply chose to follow its siren song, hoping that it would lead her to answers. She walked through corridors, looking into rooms and seeing much of the same thing. Opulently furnished rooms, all done in shades of reds, black and greys. It looked nice, certainly, but underneath it all, Rey could sense something, something deep and dark—like a nightmare that you couldn’t wake from.

As she rounded a corner, she caught sight of a living nightmare—the masked figure from the forest striding towards her. She froze, her eyes searching frantically for any method of escape, any places to run. Finding none, Rey straightened to her full height as the monster approached, baring her teeth and narrowing her eyes at him.

“Where am I?” she spat as he stopped in front of her.

“You’re my guest,” was his reply, the modulated voice from the vocoder in his mask making him seem the monster all the more. Kylo didn’t move towards her—he didn’t want to spook her any more than she already was. “If the quarters I put you in aren’t to your liking, feel free to change them.”

“I don’t plan on being here long enough to have quarters,” Rey replied acidly. “You can’t keep me here against my will.” Rey raised her chin defiantly, and Kylo let a small smirk drift onto his lips behind his helmet.

_ She’s feisty. She’ll make a good Force user—I’ll turn her abilities into something the First Order can use. Master Snoke will be pleased. _

Something brushed against his mind, coming from somewhere deep within him, and a tiny voice whispered,  _ You won’t turn her. She’s made of the light, Ben Solo. Salvation lies with her. _

He tilted his head to one side, watching her as her eyes darted frantically around, looking for an escape. “You can’t leave. You’re trapped here, just like I am.”

“You’re a monster,” Rey spit at him next, and she froze as the man took a step closer to her. Leaning in, he said, “Yes I am,” before brushing past her and striding down the same corridor she had just come down.

If her shoulder where he had touched her tingled with something akin to pleasure, Rey ignored it, continuing on with her exploration of the fortress. As soon as she found a ship or a functioning communication device, she would contact Han, Chewie or Finn and have them come rescue her if they could.

There was no way she was staying here. She would rather be back in her AT-AT on Jakku, starving and thirsty, then spend another minute with the monster—whoever he was.

….

  
  


Rey explored the fortress for hours, her excitement at finding an old ETA-2 Jedi Starfighter just inside the large hangar of the fortress quickly dying once she got inside it. She brought up all the systems—only to find that she couldn’t do anything once everything should have been ready to go.

Frustrated, she tried to contact anyone off the planet—only to find that the signal didn’t make it off world. It had to be because of  _ him _ —but what did he want with her?

_ Search your feelings. You know it to be true—the way you feel drawn to him. _

Rey whirled around, expecting to see someone standing behind her, but instead she saw nothing but the empty corridor. The fortress was eerily silent—the only sounds were service droids whirring and the sound of the air circulators.

Taking in a deep breath, Rey closed her eyes, letting her ears listen to every minute sound. The gentle whir of a droid crossing the stone floor. A compressor kicking on. The sweeping sound of a different droid cleaning a floor. The small clink of a dish being washed by yet another service droid. A computer console beeping in the distance… and underneath it all… a heartbeat.  _ His heartbeat.  _ Strong, sure and steady—and Rey knew that somehow the two of them were bound. 

Her eyes flew open, and she knew that all she had to do was listen, and she would hear that heartbeat, calling her to the person whose chest it beat within. The  _ something _ inside of her that had awakened was responsible for it, she knew somehow.

All she had to do was figure out  _ why _ , and how to get it to stop.

Rey explored more, trying to be mindful of the ever steady thrum of his heartbeat deep within her. At any time, she knew where he was in the large fortress, and she could even sense his moods if she concentrated.

Her stomach growling loudly reminded her she hadn’t eaten in a long time, and so Rey set out to find the kitchen—using her nose and ears to help guide her. As she stepped into the kitchen, her mouth started watering at the delicious smells coming from the Nanowave stove, a kitchen droid standing in front of it preparing several kinds of meats. The droid beeped at her, telling her that they would serve her in the dining hall, which was next to the kitchen.

Rey let a small smile cross her face, wondering briefly how BB-8 was doing before wandering into the dining hall, and freezing as she saw a man sitting at the table already. His back was to her, but she could see waves of raven hair falling softly just over the high collar of his black tunic, onto the material of his hooded cape. He was looking down at a datapad, and Rey took the opportunity to observe him, closing her eyes for a moment to try and sense his intentions.

She came up against a wall of blackness, and then his voice drifted to her through the stillness. “I’m not going to harm you, Rey. You’re my guest, and it seems neither of us can leave. Believe me, I’ve tried, just as you have. We’re stuck here together.”

Rey bit her bottom lip nervously, reaching out once more with her feelings as she closed her eyes. This time, there was no wall blocking her from sensing his intentions, and she found no harm intended towards her, simply a curiosity. 

She moved forward, sliding into a chair near him, and her breath caught in her throat as he looked up, their eyes meeting for the first time. His face was oddly beautiful, the beauty marks dotting it making it even more fascinating to her—but it was his eyes that captured all her attention. Time stopped as she looked into them—and into his soul.

This wasn’t a bad man. He hadn’t been brought up in the dark, but  _ something _ or  _ someone _ had corrupted him. She saw pain and sadness and knew that those two emotions were the ones he let guide and rule him—and then, underneath it all, almost hidden and so dim she could just barely make it out—there was light, a light that she was certain with the right guidance could be be exposed inch by inch, fighting off the darkness that painted everything else with its viscous gloom.

No, this man, with his expressive, deep eyes of molten umber, was not evil. He was lonely, sad and manipulated. Rey took in a deep breath, and then the wall slammed up in his head, shutting her out once more.

“Why does the Force keep connecting us?” His voice came across the table, and Rey tore her eyes away from his, her face coloring as she realized she had been staring at him. He stood, moving until he was towering over her, his eyes once more boring into hers. She had never seen anyone with more emotion in their eyes than he, and it once more took her breath away momentarily. Leaning in, he said quietly in an almost delicious low timbre, “You were so lonely. So afraid to leave. At night, desperate to sleep, you imagine an ocean. I saw it. I saw the island. Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too.”

He stood to his full height, and Rey let out a breath, relieved and distressed at the loss of closeness his body had provided. He returned to his seat, picking up the datapad again as he remarked, “I had the droids prepare dinner. I thought you may be hungry. Feel free to join me if you want.”

“Why would I want to have dinner with you? You assaulted and kidnapped me!” Rey spit out, baring her teeth at the man. “You ordered stormtroopers to open fire on my friends!”

“You mean the murderers, traitors and thieves you call friends? You’ll be pleased to hear that I believe they are still alive. And Han Solo. You feel like he’s the father you never had. He would’ve disappointed you.”

“You’re a monster!” Rey said again, anger building within her as she eyed the man. The serving droids made their appearances as Rey was about to stand and leave the room, and the delectable smell of food kept her sitting as the droids set several plates—filled with more food than she had ever seen in one place—in front of her.

As she stared at the food, the man quipped. “Now that we’ve established that I am, indeed, a monster—please, eat. We should discuss how we’re going to cohabitate until we can figure out a way out of here.”

Rey said nothing at first, finally stating, “I saw something, too. Inside your head. You’re scared. You’re scared you’ll never be as strong as Darth Vader,” before attacking the food voraciously. She tried a little of everything, trying not to moan out loud at the different flavors caressing her taste buds. She had only been off Jakku a short time, but she had already seen more than she thought she ever would. She was in awe of the flavors and colors of the galaxy. Finally, when she didn’t think she could eat another bite, she pushed back from the table and stood. When she was standing next to the man, she intoned, “And don’t ever speak another ill word regarding my friends in front of me. You know nothing of them.”

As Rey walked away, Kylo muttered, “I know more than you think.”

….

Each day that passed left Rey feeling worn out. The man was mostly a shadow figure, always moving about in the fortress. She kept track of him, wanting to limit their encounters to the bare minimum.

She thought about him more often than she should, though, especially at night. She would picture her island, surrounded by the ocean, and he would be there with her, teaching her how to use the power inside her. They were happy, and even though he was still deep in the darkness, she saw through it. When sleep wouldn’t come, Rey would get out of bed, going to the hangar to try once more to leave the planet. When she still couldn’t, and was still unsuccessful in reaching anyone off planet, she would scream in frustration, not noticing that the tools scattered about the floor would hover over it until they crashed down as her screams were echoing throughout the large chamber.

Finally, she joined him for dinner one night. So many sleepless nights had worn her out, and Rey knew she needed his help. They ate in silence, and then Rey spoke. “What’s your name?”

He looked up at her, and Rey saw the bags under his eyes.. “Kylo Ren.”

“You don’t sleep either, do you?” Rey’s voice sounded small and tired as she eyed the man sitting near here at the long table. Letting out a deep sigh, Rey picked at the fabric of her tunic before she brought her eyes up to meet his after she looked around the room. “Something is awake inside of me, and I’m afraid. I need to know my place in all this.”

“You need a teacher,” Kylo replied, and something inside him stirred. If he could just turn her, just make her see how powerful she could be… then finally Snoke would let him finish his training and become the man he was supposed to be. “I can teach you the ways of the Force. Show you how powerful you are, Rey. Together we can rule the Galaxy… set things the way they are supposed to be and end this war.”

“No,” Rey said, shaking her head and feeling foolish for believing she could make him see things differently as he offered her guidance. “No. I won’t join you, Kylo Ren. If you want to help me, then it’s on my terms, not yours. From what I gather from your brief and oh so endearing statements on the day I woke up, you need me to figure out a way out of here. So, it's my terms, or you can rot here for all I care.” Rey stood and turned to leave when his voice rang out.

“What are your terms?”

Rey turned to look at him. He was watching her intently, his eyes searching hers, and Rey knew—he wanted to turn. He  _ would _ turn.

_ They stood in the sunshine on a stone terrace, a beautiful lake with the sun sparkling off the waves before them. Ben—he went by the name Ben now—turned to look at her, his eyes kinder and full of love as he gazed at her. His hand came to rest on her swollen belly, and the smile that came onto his lips made her heart trip faster in her chest. _

_ “I would do it all over again if I could, if it meant I get to be with you in the end,” he murmured, and Rey smiled up at him just before his lips met hers.  _

Rey smiled before stating, “I’ve seen your future. Just the shape of it—solid and clear. You will turn back to the light. So, my terms are this: You train me to use… whatever this is…” Rey waved a hand over her body before continuing, “but you will not use the darkness I sense inside you. You’ll teach me the way you learned before you were led away from the light. Those are my terms.”

Kylo looked her over before smirking. “I saw something too. Because of what I saw I know that when the moment comes—you’ll be the one to turn. You’ll stand with me. I agree to your terms. We start training tomorrow.”

….

Training with Kylo was… interesting. Rey found that he was very intelligent, and he taught her far more than how to use the Force. He also taught her Galactic History, customs of people around the galaxy, and gave her a good understanding of languages she had never heard before.

He was a fierce warrior, and he taught her how to use her abilities in both offensive and defensive ways. While he tended to go on the offensive first, Rey chose to use her abilities for defense first, only turning them to offense if needed.

One night, something spoke to Rey, a song she couldn’t shut out, couldn’t ignore no matter how hard she tried. She was sore from a day of training, and had hoped that after a long shower in the refresher, she would sleep well. Huffing in annoyance at the delightful hum in her brain, she got out of bed and followed the trail that beckoned her and led her deep underneath the fortress.

The catacomb was huge, cut out of the burnt ochre of the lava planet. Trusting the Force to guide her, Rey closed her eyes, focusing on the delicious hum and letting her feet move her towards it. Reaching out, her hand met wood, and she opened her eyes to find a small wooden chest.

The hum—an ancient, cosmic song, really—grew louder, and Rey took the chest in both hands now, flipping the clasp and lid open and peering inside with wonder. Nestled in the box within folds of a soft, shimmering material, was a crystal, glowing a soft yellow.

“Hello there, I’m Rey,” she murmured softly, wondering why she was introducing herself to an inanimate object. The crystal seemed to pulse brighter with her words, and Rey reached out with a shaking finger to touch it.

The humming in her head grew louder, and the crystal grew brighter. Rey knew then, that somehow this crystal was meant to be hers, and so she closed the box, turning and making her way back to her quarters.

….

“Interesting,” Kylo remarked the next day as Rey showed him what she had found. “I suppose this is your next lesson then.”

“I don’t understand,” Rey said, looking at the dark warrior standing next to her and scowling into the box. The crystal within was eerily silent in her head, like it was trying to avoid interacting with Kylo.

“This is a kyber crystal, Rey. Since it called to you, it’s yours. I will instruct you how to make a lightsaber. That’s your next lesson. Every Jedi is instructed in how to make one by their Master.”

“You’re not a Jedi, or my Master, Kylo. And I am no Jedi.” Rey said acerbically, needing to remind him that they were doing things on her terms still, not his. So far they had been working quite well together—and she needed to keep the scales tipped in her favor.

“No, but I can show you how to do this, as I have already made several lightsabers.” Kylo was quick to offer a rebuttal, his tone one of boredom as he looked at her. 

“Good. I look forward to sparring with you when it’s done. Let’s get started now,” Rey said, letting a tiny grin come to her lips.

….

What Rey assumed would take several hours turned into a three day endeavour, and as she looked at her lightsaber after she had completed the task, a huge grin split her face as she ignited it. She had never owned anything so magnificent in her life. She had never really  _ owned _ anything—since her life on Jakku had been dictated by Unkar Plutt. Everything she had was his if he so deemed it.

She wondered how the spinebarrel flower in her AT-AT was doing. She had been gone so long now, she knew another scavenger had claimed Hellhound 2 for their home. She hoped they took good care of it like she had.

“Ready to have your ass handed to you, Ren?” Rey quipped, watching him as he stood and watched her.

“I’m ready to watch you learn your forms, Padawan. Then, perhaps, we can spar when I think you are ready.”

A new routine was born that day, in which Kylo put her through rigorous lightsaber training, and when Rey fell asleep each night, she didn’t dream any more.

….

Kylo knelt on the floor, panting heavily, as Snoke’s voice assaulted his mind.

_ How dare you hide from me, Kylo Ren! _

“Master, I have been trying to reach you! I’m trapped on Mustafar, I can’t leave, I haven’t been able to use the Force properly to reach you!”

Lightning sliced through his veins, and Kylo screamed, falling backwards and twitching on the floor. The attack went on for what seemed like an eternity, and when he was finally released from its onslaught, he rolled to his side, vomiting on the floor.

_ You, Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren, with all that mighty Skywalker blood running through your veins, are having trouble using the Force? My faith in you is misplaced, it seems. You are on the same planet on which your Grandfather found his rightful place within the Galaxy as Darth Vader, and yet you are trapped there? Surely the heir apparent of Lord Vader would be able to use his power to return to his duties as my faithful apprentice. Unless… _

Snoke’s voice grew quiet, and Kylo felt the familiar, blinding pain of his Master pushing into his brain and sorting through his memories and thoughts until he had found what he wanted, withdrawing and leaving Kylo panting and retching, acidic bile filling his mouth.

_ I see. You have a woman there with you. Oh, she is powerful in the Force. I’ll let you have your little affair, Lord Ren. Turn her. We could use her power in the First Order. If she doesn’t turn… kill her. _

Snoke’s voice faded from his head, and Kylo simply whispered, “Yes, Master,” before vomiting again.

….

Rey woke from her sleep, a scream echoing through the halls as something insidious and dark crept into her mind and brushed against her Force signature before withdrawing quickly. It wasn’t Kylo—she was used to his signature by now. No, this was something far more evil and terrifying than Kylo Ren.

Rey rose from her bed quickly, wrapping a shawl around her sleep clothes. She padded barefoot through the corridors until she came to a stop in front of Kylo’s door. She heard sobbing and retching from within. Without hesitation she stepped inside, the swish of the door shutting behind her barely heard as she ran to where Kylo lay on the floor. His stomach was still heaving and his eyes were frantic as he looked up at her.

“Go away,” he said sharply as Rey knelt beside him.

“No, you kriffing idiot. Come on, let me help you up.” Rey stood, reaching down to offer him her hand. He took it, his large hand engulfing hers, and Rey tried to ignore the spark she felt at his skin touching hers. She helped him stand, letting him lean on her as she led him to his bed and helped him get settled in it.

She found the fresher easily enough, returning to his side with a cool cloth for his face. Next, she called a cleaning droid to attend to the messy floor, and then finally came back to his side. She took note of his pale face and pained expression, and settled herself gingerly on his bed.

“Someone evil did this to you. I  _ felt _ them. Their Force signature brushed against mine.” Rey looked at Kylo, and he nodded at her.

“He’s not evil. The Supreme Leader is wise. He’s my Master, he made me powerful.” Kylo winced as he tried to sit back on his elbow.

“No,” Rey shook her head. “I am no Jedi, but I know the Force now, Kylo. No one with good intentions would treat another being like this. I don’t know your so-called Master, but I know that your power comes from within you. It’s not blood, it’s not some destiny laid out for you by those before you. It’s simply the Force working through you. I  _ know _ you’re far more powerful than you think. Let me help you.” Rey hoped her words to Kylo would settle into his soul, so that he would see the light within him that she saw. “There’s still light inside you. I  _ see _ it.”

Kylo sneered at her before snarling, “You’re still holding on, Rey! Let go! Let the past die… kill it if you have to! That’s the only way to become what you are meant to be!  It's time to let old things die. Snoke, Skywalker, the Sith, the Jedi, the Rebels; Let it all die.”

Rey shook her head sadly. “You’re still holding on, Kylo. You’re holding on to every lie and every manipulation your so-called Master has given you. But I know better. I see the real you… but it’s up to you to find him again underneath everything that’s been layered on top of it to hold it in. To hold you back.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Consider my terms null and void. I’ll train on my own now, until I find a way out of here.”

….

Rey kept her word, training on her own and once again limiting her contact with Kylo. If she let herself think about it, she missed his company. He was acerbic sometimes, and had a dry sense of humor she found funny. She saw things within him that no one did—because he didn’t let people get close to him.

She was having trouble sleeping again, her mind plagued with worry about him. Why couldn’t he see what she saw so clearly? Why did he turn from the light when all it wanted to do was welcome him home with open arms?

“Because he’s been manipulated since birth, young Rey.”

Rey called her lightsaber to her hand, lighting it with a flick of her thumb as she turned to see a man standing behind her. He had an eerie blue glow around him, but Rey sensed no intentions for harm in him.

“Your lightsaber isn’t needed, Rey of Jakku. I mean you no harm, I am here only to offer you guidance. Search your feelings, sense my intentions.”

“I already did,” Rey mumbled, extinguishing her lightsaber.

“You care about Kylo Ren,” the man said. “You see in him what a lot of people don’t.”

“I do,” Rey answered simply. “There is light in Kylo Ren. I can see it.”

“The First Order rose from the dark—Kylo Ren did not. He was corrupted and manipulated since he was in his mother’s womb. Ben Solo never stood a chance against the darkness Palpatine flooded his mind with. As much as Kylo Ren wants to hide—he can’t deny the truth that is his family. He was named after me, you know.” The man settled onto one of the chairs in her quarters and Rey narrowed her eyes as she looked at him.

“Did you say Ben… Solo? Just who are you, and how do you know so much about Kylo Ren?”

The man chuckled before saying, “I knew his mother and adoptive grandfather well. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I have also gone by the name Ben Kenobi. I was there at the birth of his mother—Leia, and his uncle, Luke.”

“So…” Rey’s head was swirling as she looked over the man again, “Leia and Han are his parents. And you, you’re a…”

“I am one with the Force. A Force ghost.”

“I don’t understand my place in all this. Even after training with him. I feel so drawn to him. Like we’re connected on some level that is deeper than anything either of us could imagine. But now, now I’m angry and sad. He ordered his troops to fire on his father. He leads troops against his own mother! How can he do that! He has a family, a family who I am sure loved him once—and he just takes it for granted!”

“The Force is teaching him a lesson, Rey. It’s demanding a price for his grandfather’s transgressions. Balance has to be restored. When he had his men attack the Resistance on Takodana, he didn’t know his Mother was there—or he would have given different orders. As for Han—Han is… Han. He’s a gruff old smuggler who would rather be working than at home with his family. Sometimes relationships between fathers and sons are difficult to maneuver. Patience is needed—but I believe you are good at waiting, aren’t you?” 

As Rey watched, Obi-Wan smiled at her before nodding once and fading away.

Turning, Rey stalked out of her room, intent on finding Kylo Ren. She didn’t have to try very hard—she could feel him no matter where she was in the fortress, like a stain on the back of her mind. She pushed forward with the Force when she reached his quarters, stepping inside his room with bared teeth and narrowed eyes. Her lightsaber came to life with a small crackle, and Kylo’s eyes widened as she came to stand before him.

“Why do you hate your father?” Rey spat at Kylo, who was regarding her warily.

“I don’t,” he replied quietly. He didn’t move, but his eyes widened briefly in surprise as he wondered how she knew about his feelings for Han Solo. They quickly switched to sadness and regret as he looked at her, a lock of hair falling into his face.

“You murderous snake! Why else would you tell your troops to attack them? And your mother? Why would you tell your men to attack the Resistance knowing she is their General?” With a ferocious roar, Rey surged forward, and Kylo barely had his lightsaber in his hand and ignited before she was bringing hers down in an arc towards his torso.

He blocked her thrust with a simple twist of his wrist, and then she was on the offensive once more. Her blade twirled furiously, and Kylo tried to keep up with it. While he was far more powerful than she, she was quicker—something he had taught her to take advantage of.

Ultimately, it was his confidence in defending against her attacks that was his undoing. He was distracted—perhaps by trying to defend against her, perhaps from the fact that she was so close to him—and as he took a step backwards only to realize there was a chair there, forcing him to stumble. The only thing he could think as she brought her blade down to cut a long mark along his skin from forehead to shoulder was  _ At least it is  _ her _ mark I’ll bear forever. _

“I hate you,” Rey spat at him. “You have a family who loves you, and you treat them like enemies. Like trash. Like they mean nothing! For what? So you can let yourself be manipulated and twisted inside? So you can let the darkness reign supreme inside you in your little quest to be the next Darth Vader? You know how that ended, why would you want to hurt the people that love you?”

Rey shook her head, extinguishing her lightsaber and stepping towards the door. As it hissed open, she whispered, “Goodbye.” She may be stuck on this planet with him—but that didn’t mean she had to see him. If she was careful, she didn’t have to have any contact with him at all.

….

A month later, with Takodana hanging above the skies of Mustafar as a tiny speck of light, Rey squealed in delight as the engines of the Starfighter hummed to life, the commlink crackling to life as she typed in the codes to send a message to the  _ Millenium Falcon _ . It had become a nightly routine for her, to check the old ship for any signs of it coming to life—a routine that appeared to have paid off. As she hurtled off planet, putting in the codes Han sent back to her, she felt a twinge of sadness as she hit the button to send the ship into hyperspace—knowing that she would miss Kylo—even though she shouldn’t.

….

“Momma? Does Ashla love Bogan even though she’s mad at him?” She had been prepared for this question, the same as every other time she had told this story to her little girl.

“She does, little one. Very much. But sometimes love means walking away and letting the person you love figure things out, and if it’s meant to be, you’ll find each other again.” She pulled the covers up on her daughter’s body, smiling down at her and waiting for the inevitable question that was coming next, as it always did.

“And Bogan loves Ashla, even though he lets the dark side rule him?” The little girl’s eyes were wide and shiny with unshed tears as she looked up at her mother.

“Of course he does, sweetheart. He’s just confused and so afraid that he isn’t good for her because of the darkness within him.”

“But he is good for her! They are soulmates! How come he thinks he’s not good for her? The Force works in mysterious ways, Momma, doesn’t it?” The little girl nodded sagely, and her mother had to bite back a smile.

“That it does, sweetheart. Now close your eyes for the night, dear one. I’ll continue the story tomorrow for you.” The woman leaned down, planting a light kiss to her daughter’s forehead. Standing, she walked to the door, turning as her daughter’s voice called out to her.

“Momma? Is it true that all Skywalker men suffer from space madness? Aunt Deliah said that Uncle Cade was suffering from it today because he let Master Tige Antilles best him during our velocities. She said Uncle Cade is the best, and that all Skywalker men suffer from clear space madness. Uncle Cade was laughing when he walked away from her—but Momma—can Skywalker girls suffer from it, too? I don’t want to have space madness! I don’t want you or my baby sister to get it, either!” The little girl’s eyes were wide open with worry, and her mother bit back a laugh as she looked at her child.

“The Force runs strong in the Skywalker men, little one, but I have never heard of space madness. I think Aunt Deliah was joking. Now sleep. You have to be at the Temple early for your studies.”

“Ok, Momma,” the girl said softly as her eyes closed. “I am glad Ashla and Bogan fell in love.”

“Me too,” the woman whispered as she stepped into the hallway, closing the door to her daughter’s room softly.


	3. Chapter 3

“Are you ready for more of Ashla and Bogan’s story, little one?” The woman smoothed back her daughter’s hair, watching as the little girl nodded enthusiastically before settling back on her pillows and clutching her stuffed nexu in her chubby little arms.

“Yes, Momma!”

“Alright, let’s see… where were we? Ah, yes. When Ashla had been taken from Takodana by Bogan, summer had started to merge into fall, and when she finally escaped Mustafar, it was Springtime on Anoat—where the Resistance had set up a new camp.”

“It was the stinky garbage planet, wasn’t it, Momma? Phew!” The little girl wrinkled up her nose in disgust, and her mother laughed.

“Yes, Anoat is pretty stinky. Ashla was glad to see Finn, Han and Chewie again, and as the days and weeks passed, she made even more friends. She was a very good mechanic, so she stayed busy by doing maintenance on the small fleet of ships the Resistance had. But General Organa had more plans for her only Jedi.”

“Momma?” The little girl’s eyes turned sad, and her tone was serious as she asked, “Wasn’t Bogan lonely, though? He didn’t have anyone to talk to, and he loves Ashla even if he won’t admit it, right?”

“Oh little one, Bogan was very, very lonely, and very broken inside. That’s why his love for Ashla stayed buried underneath all that darkness. And Ashla—even though she loved Bogan, she knew she could never be with him until he decided to fight the darkness she saw right through.”

“Momma?”

“Yes, little one?” The woman smiled at the little girl, waiting patiently for her next question.

“Do you and Daddy have that thing like Ashla and Bogan? The bond where you can talk to each other in your heads?”

“Oh no, sweetheart. Bonds like that are very, very rare. Now, where were we? Oh, yes. Anoat…”

….

Rey was underneath an X-Wing, a wrench in her hand, when a strange feeling came over her, as if the air and sound were suddenly sucked out of the room. She shoved herself out from under the ship, looking around.When she spotted Kylo Ren perched on a toolbox nearby, Rey gasped audibly.

“Well, this is an interesting new aspect to  _ whatever _ it is the Force is doing to us,” Kylo intoned, looking at her with eyes filled with sadness and pain. “You left me.”

“You kidnapped me!” Rey hissed, looking around to make sure no one else in the hangar of the Resistance base was paying attention to her.

“No, I captured you. You were technically a prisoner of war,” Kylo answered, waving one thick fingered hand in the air. “And then the Force decided to trap me here, and you as well, it seems. How did you do it? How did you escape?” His eyes never left hers, and Rey felt as if she was stripped bare by his gaze.

“I got in the Starfighter and left.” Rey glanced around again before letting her eyes go back to Kylo. Besides the abject sadness in his eyes he looked well enough. The wound she had given him a month ago was healed, leaving behind a pink scar from his forehead down his neck. “How’s your wound?”

“It’s nothing,” he said dismissively, but Rey felt a surge of pain through the bond it seemed they still shared.

_ I hurt him deeply, and not just with my lightsaber,  _ Rey thought to herself as she inched a little closer as she watched him warily. Could he see where she was? Would he be able to find the Resistance now?

“Don’t worry. I can’t see your surroundings. Only you. Your precious Resistance is safe.” Kylo’s voice was exactly as she remembered, the low timbre had been almost comforting to her at times when they had been together on Mustafar.

“Why Ben? Why? Why do you hate your parents so much? Your mother... she loves you. So does your father. They want you to come home. Please…” Rey’s voice was almost pleading as she looked at him, drinking in the depth of his pain.

“They left me. Discarded me like trash at my uncle’s school. I scared them. They couldn’t handle me, and neither could you. You left me, just like they did!” Kylo stood, starting towards her, his posture angry, and then the world came back into focus, the clanging of wrenches against engines sounding in her ears as he faded away.

Rey stood still, staring at the space he had just occupied and wishing desperately that he’d come back.

….

The sun was bright in her eyes as she lay on a blanket in a meadow, surrounded by tall grass waving in the gentle breeze. Ben stretched out alongside her, and Rey reached over, twining her fingers in his as she smiled at him.

“You’re dreaming, you know,” Ben said, and Rey looked at him in confusion. What was wrong with him? He hadn’t been acting like this a few minutes ago. She turned her head slightly to look at him, and instead of gazing at her with love like he had been, he was instead looking at her with contempt, and the sadness and pain in his eyes took her breath away, causing tears to spring forth in her eyes.

“This is just a dream. It’s not real, and you and I aren’t… close.” Ben pulled his hand away from her and stood, looking down at her as she blinked tearfully up at him. “Why does the Force insist on doing this to us? What’s so special about you?”

Rey woke with a gasp, sitting up in her bunk on the Millenium Falcon and swiping at her eyes sleepily.  _ What’s so special about you? _ Ben’s voice was still lingering in her ears as she looked around—wondering the same thing as he.

_ I’m nobody from nowhere. _

….

She had seen this place before—in her dreams. It was the island, the ocean, that Kylo had taken from her brain. It was the place she’d been dreaming of since she was a half-starved child back on Jakku, wondering if she had scavenged enough to be able to eat that night.

Han patted her on the back as she walked down the ramp, muttering, “Good luck, kid.”

Surely the great Jedi Master Luke Skywalker would help his sister and her cause—wouldn’t he?

Rey soon found, though, that Luke Skywalker was anything but welcoming. He was sarcastic and rude, even when his brother-in-law and old friend, Chewbacca, barged into the stone hut he was currently occupying.

Rey was stubborn, though, and refused to stay in the Falcon with Han and Chewie. Instead she slept in one of the drafty stone huts, making sure she was close enough to Luke at all times to remind him that she—and the Resistance—were not about to give up on him.

Something was calling to her, though, something dark and cold and Rey found it harder to resist every day. One morning she stood on the top of a cliff, working through forms with her lightsaber, when the familiar feeling of the Force bond opening caused her to turn.

“I’d rather not do this right now,” Rey snarled, extinguishing her lightsaber and turning to find Kylo standing next to another large boulder, his chest bare and glistening with sweat. Rey tried not to notice how well sculpted it was as he moved closer.

“Yeah, me too,” he intoned, his eyes meeting hers. He could smell salty sea air, and drops of water clung to Rey’s clothing and hair, making her look like some kind of ethereal, mythical sea goddess. “You look well,” he said, tilting his head to one side as she looked nervously around at someone.

Just then, he sensed someone he hadn’t encountered in years—and the very person he had been searching for when the Force decided to trap him on Mustafar.

“Skywalker,” he said angrily, taking a step towards Rey as if he might somehow be able to come out wherever she was. “I see you’ve found him. And now, you’ll bring him to me.” Kylo threw out a hand, trying to use the Force to influence her.

Luckily, Luke had only been walking through Rey’s line of vision, and after he was gone she moved towards Kylo, her eyes narrowed and her teeth bared at him as she hissed, “Did you actually think that would work on me?” Her eyes went to his chest again, and she looked towards the ground, asking “Do you have a cowl or something you can put on?”

“Did he tell you what happened? The night I destroyed his temple? Did he tell you why?” Kylo looked at her curiously, and Rey’s brow furrowed in confusion momentarily.  _ Does she not know what happened? Does she not know about the temple? _

“I know everything I need to know about you,” Rey spit out, dragging her eyes back up to his face with great effort.

“You do?” Kylo deadpanned, his eyes glinting with something akin to amusement, which only further stoked Rey’s curiosity.  _ Does anyone really know Kylo Ren? _ She thought to herself.  _ Does anyone take the time to actually get to know him? Does he  _ **_let_ ** _ anyone do that? _

“Ah. You do,” Kylo said, almost as if he was speaking to himself now. “Ask him why he tried to k—” Kylo faded away and the bond snapped shut, leaving Rey slightly disoriented and wondering what Kylo wanted her to ask Luke.

….

The repurposed X-Wing door exploded inward, and Rey narrowed her eyes at Luke as she walked into his hut. “You need to help your sister and the Resistance. Hiding yourself away to die is doing nothing for anyone.”

Luke looked up from the pot he had been stirring over the stone fireplace, snorting derisively. “And you think destroying the door to my home is going to convince me to leave with you?”

Rey glared at him. “I am sick of chasing you around this island. Please, the Resistance needs your help.”

Luke levelled a gaze at her, his blue eyes piercing and wise. “Why are  _ you _ here? What’s your name?”

Now it was Rey’s turn to snort at him, rolling her eyes. “I’ve been chasing you around this wind-swept rock for two weeks now, and you’re just now asking what my name is?”

“Well? What is it?” Luke turned back to the pot over the fire, stirring whatever was in it once more.

“Rey. Will you come with us and help Leia and the Resistance?” Rey shuffled her feet impatiently, watching as Luke half turned to look at her over one shoulder.

“Where are you from, Rey? What’s so special about you?”

“Nowhere.” 

“No one’s from nowhere.” The old Jedi turned his full attention back to his meal, and Rey narrowed her eyes at him once more.  _ So, being infuriatingly sarcastic must be a Skywalker trait, if Ben and Luke are any indication. Good to know. _

“Jakku, and I’m no one special.”

Luke snorted once more. “Okay, that  _ is _ pretty much nowhere. Who’s your Master? I can tell you’ve had training.”

Rey looked at Luke before stating, “Look, Master Skywalker. Your sister sent me here to bring you back to the Resistance base. We need your help. The First Order has become unstoppable-”

“You knew this island when you arrived. How?” Luke turned once more, taking a step towards her.

“Why does that even matter? Will you come with us or not? We’re wasting time here waiting for you to stop being stubborn! Leia said you were a stubborn bantha’s ass—but I didn’t really think she was being serious.”

“The way you use your lightsaber seems familiar. You’ve been taught your forms, gone through your velocities more than once.”

Rey didn’t bother denying it—she knew anyone trained as a Jedi would know she had been trained, so she simply inclined her head towards him as he took another step towards her.

“Why don’t you just take it from my head? Why did you cut yourself off from the Force?” Rey asked suddenly, looking at Luke and standing her ground. Hero of the Galaxy and Jedi Master he might be—but she wouldn’t let him intimidate her.

“I came here to die. Either tell me who trained you, or go away!”

“Ben trained her,” Han’s voice rang out through the hut, followed by a low growl from Chewie, and as they both stepped into the hut, Luke rolled his eyes at his old friend. “Now, are you ready to stop harassing her and come help us, or are you actually going to sit here and die on this windy rock like some kind of kriffing Jedi pariah?” 

“Ben trained her. Right.” Luke’s eyes were slightly wide as he looked from Han to Rey, who was simply standing her ground still.

Han shrugged before looking at his brother-in-law. “Force stuff. I’d rather be running trade routes and taking jobs, you know. But Leia needs you—her brother—right now. You Jedi types can work your differences out when we get you to the base on Anoat.”

“Anoat?” Luke said before snorting. “No. I haven’t got the stink of Dagobah out of my nostrils yet, and that’s been three decades. I don’t need to have the stink of the Galaxy’s trash dump on me until I die.”

Chewbacca let out a series of low growls then, and Rey smirked as the Wookiee informed Luke that if he could handle it in his fur forever, then certainly Luke can handle it on his silly looking Jedi robes.

“Watch it, furball,” Luke said, and Chewie let out the equivalent of a chuckle.

“Look, Luke, you can come back here to die once we’ve helped Leia save the Galaxy again, okay?” Han continued. “I’ll even bring you back here myself afterwards if you want. Stars, I even have a blaster for you to use, since you seem to be resisting all that Jedi mumbo jumbo you used to be so proud of. I wouldn’t have come, but you know how persuasive your sister can be.”

Luke sighed, and as Rey turned to leave, he said, “We need to talk, Rey from Jakku.”

Rey simply nodded. “We can talk on the Falcon on the way to Anoat. I have something I need to do beforehand.”

….

Whatever had been calling to Rey, it was singing through her veins as she was pulled into the water. She should have been frightened, but instead she embraced the siren song, and as she exited the water in the cave, her clothes dripping wet, she wondered briefly what the Force was trying to teach her this time.

Even Kylo had told her that the Force had funny ways of teaching lessons—and as she came to stand before a large wall on which she was reflected back on herself over and over, she felt something come over her quietly, a desire she had wanted for years now—to see her parents.

Fascinated by the mirrored images, Rey reached up, snapping her finger and watching as every Rey in the mirror snapped their fingers as well. 

**What’s your greatest desire, Rey of Jakku? What do you want to see in the mirror? Power? Your true love? What can we show you?**

The words were a quiet whisper in her mind, and Rey replied without hesitation. 

“I want to see my parents.”

But all the mirror showed her was her own face staring back at her—and Rey had never felt more alone.

….

Back in her chosen stone hut, she shivered before the fire pit's warmth. She was wrapped in a threadbare blanket and trying to dry her clothes when she sensed the Force bond opening. She had felt his presence in the Force since she had returned to the hut, soaked and weeping over the loneliness she felt inside. It almost seemed like he was waiting for her to be calmer so that she could talk to him.

If anyone in the Galaxy knew about loneliness, and how it could eat at you until you were an empty husk of the person you used to be, it was Kylo Ren.

“I just… I thought I would find something here on the island I’ve been dreaming about since I was young. I need to know my place in all this. Instead, I feel more alone than I ever have.”

Kylo had simply listened to her as she told him about her experience in the mirror cave and how it had made her feel. He was sitting across the fire from her, his eyes never leaving her face. Finally, when he did speak, it was three words that went straight to her heart, taking root and started to bloom within her.

“You’re not alone,” Kylo said softly. Reaching down, he pulled his glove off, extending his hand towards her. Somehow, he knew she needed to feel his skin against hers. Rey looked hesitant for a moment before reaching out for him, as well, and as their hands met, she softly said,

“Neither are you.” Her reply curled around his soul like a sigh, causing some of the darkness to fade away inside him.

Their hands met, and they both let out a gasp as something ran through both of them, their eyes meeting and holding for a few long moments before Kylo pulled her towards him, Rey barely remembering to sidestep the fire as she moved.

“You’re nothing,” Kylo mumbled as his arms went around her, and when her arms circled around his neck and her head settled on his shoulder, he whispered, “But not to me. Not to me, Rey. I… I miss you. You helped make me feel like a man instead of a monster. I want to show you something. I want to show you what happened that night the temple was destroyed. I want you to see it through my eyes.”

Rey’s mind was flooded with an image, a sensation, and she found herself suddenly asleep in a small hut. An eerie green glow woke her, a gasp leaving her lips as she turned over to find none other than Luke Skywalker standing over her, his lightsaber ignited and ready to be brought down on her. His face was grim and determined, and she could sense he was disgusted, angry and frightened by the raw power and the dark things he had pulled out of her mind. She knew she had to react, so she threw her hand up, calling her lightsaber to her and igniting it in one motion before bringing it up in a defensive measure—just in time to save herself from Luke’s killing blow. 

With her other hand, Rey called upon the Force to bring down the stone hut on top of Luke, knowing that if she didn’t, he would kill her. She climbed out of the rubble, sick with the feeling she had just killed her own uncle, and as she reached solid ground, she looked around to see her fellow students being slaughtered by the Knights of Ren. She had never meant for this to happen, for everyone to die… and then the voice came to her mind.

**_You’ve done well, my boy. Now come to me with your Knights of Ren to fulfill your destiny and finish what your grandfather started._ **

She was snapped back into her body as the vision faded from her mind, and she was immediately flooded with anger. Why wouldn’t Kylo be filled with hurt and anger? His own uncle, the man who was supposed to teach him how to best use his powers, had betrayed him. Instead of talking to him, Luke had chosen to first steal his thoughts, then to try to murder him.

Rey’s eyes were wide as she pulled away to look at him, tears pricking behind her eyelids as she thought about how a young Ben Solo must have felt that night. While she couldn’t say she would have given herself to the darkness like he had to become Kylo Ren, certainly she would have emerged a changed, bitter person as well.

As Rey settled more into his arms after the shared memory, a few things became evident to her. She missed Kylo, as well, and the light within him—the light she had told him was still there—was a little brighter, now. He had someone to share his pain with. Someone who understood him. “I miss you, too,” she whispered. “You understand me, just as I understand you now.”

“Yes, I do. Rey, I—” Kylo’s head snapped up as Luke opened the door and stepped inside the hut, his eyes going wide at the sight of Rey in Kylo’s arms.

“ _ Stop _ !” The Jedi Master barked, extending his arm and pushing the Force forward, the stone walls of the hut exploding inward.

Rey let out a frustrated howl when Kylo faded away, leaving her standing in a cloud of dust. Turning, she strode towards Luke angrily, igniting her lightsaber after calling it to her hand. “Why did you try to murder him? There’s light in him still, I see it. Why didn’t you try to help him?” She stood in front of Luke now, taking an offensive stance.

“Put that lightsaber away, and we’ll talk. I knew there was something special about you.” Luke’s voice was a low, exasperated grumble as he looked at her, and once she had extinguished her lightsaber and put it back on her belt, he continued. “Han and Chewie sent me up here to let you know we’re ready to leave.”

Rey kept her teeth bared at him as she responded, “That’s great, but that’s not an answer to my question. Why did you give up on Ben? Why did you create Kylo Ren?”

Luke let out an annoyed huff before turning, stepping over some rubble, his voice carrying back to her on the salty ocean breeze. “We can talk on the Falcon. Come on.”

….

Rey was deep in thought, a steaming cup of caf in her hands, when Luke slid into the seat across from her in the Falcon’s galley a short time later. Sighing, she said, “Tell me the truth. I’ve seen Ben’s side of things.”

Luke cocked his head to one side, eyeing her curiously. “Ben, huh? You refer to him by a name he hasn’t used in years. Why do you care so much about him?”

Rey glared at Luke, “This isn’t about me. Tell me why you tried to murder your nephew!”

Luke sighed before speaking. His eyes were tired and full of regret as he looked at Rey. “ I saw darkness. I sensed it building in him. I'd seen it in moments during his training. But then I looked inside, and it was beyond what I ever imagined. Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction and pain and death, and the end of everything I loved because of what he would become, and for the briefest moment of pure instinct, I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow, and I was left with shame and with consequence. The last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose Master had failed him. He must've thought I was dead. When I came to, the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students, and slaughtered the rest. Leia blamed Snoke, but it was me. I failed. Because I was Luke Skywalker. Jedi Master. A legend.”

Rey shook her head slowly. “He didn’t murder your students. It was the Knights of Ren. In fact, Ben knew several of the students who survived came after him. He never wanted them dead. He was being manipulated. He was lonely. He felt discarded by the people who were supposed to love him. He was told that finishing what Vader started was his destiny. But when I touched him, when I was with him before, I saw his future, just the shape of it, but clear. Ben will turn back to the light.”

“It’s interesting, the Force pulling you to him. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Rey simply shrugged, not wanting to give Luke any more information than she had to about her and Ben’s bond. It was something private and almost intimate that she shared with him, and while it had been disconcerting at first, now that she understood Ben better, it was comforting having him on the other side. She knew she could reach out right now if she wanted, and he would be at the other end of it, the dark reflection to her light in the Force.

“Look, Rey. I've seen this raw strength in the Force only once before, in Ben Solo. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now. Especially if you are bonded to him, as it appears you may be. The Force works in interesting ways to teach us lessons—and the biggest one it likes to teach is failure. Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris. At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader. My Father. Ben’s grandfather.” Luke’s eyes turned sad as he mentioned Anakin Skywalker.

Rey sighed before saying, “And a Jedi who saved him. Yes, he was the most hated man in the galaxy. But you saw there was conflict inside him. You believed that he wasn't gone. That he could be turned. Perhaps you should have had the same confidence in your own nephew. Maybe then things would be different.”

Now it was Luke’s turn to sigh, his voice sad and soft as he replied, “I became a legend after Endor. For many years, there was balance, and then I saw... Ben. My nephew with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him; I could pass on my strengths. Han was... Han about it, but Leia trusted me with her son. By the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late.”

Rey took a long sip of caf from her cup, trying to quell the sharp sting of anger rising inside her at Luke. For being a legend—a hero—he certainly didn’t have much common sense when it came to other people and their feelings. “It’s not too late for Ben. He will turn and stand with me. I saw it.”

“I hope you’re right, for the sake of the Galaxy.” Luke stood, half turning to look back at her. “Remember that the Force wants balance. Only then will everything fall into place.”

….

Rey wasn’t surprised the next time the Force opened their bond. She just wished it had better timing. She had taken to training at night, well away from the Resistance camp. She didn’t need—or want—Luke giving her advice or trying to show her how he would do things. He may be a legend to some people, but for Rey, he had failed his nephew by not believing in him, not trying to help him, and she had no room for people that discarded others like bantha offal in her life. Yet, she found herself needing his guidance, despite her feelings.

“Thank you,” she heard Ben say, and she dared a glance over at him. He was perched on a pile of trash, and the Anoatian pit beast took advantage of her slight distraction to move towards her. 

"Come on, is that the best you can do? I thought Anoatian pit beasts were supposed to be dangerous," Rey said as she used the Force for a quick burst of energy as she sprinted towards the beast, flipping upwards at the last second and bringing her trusty old staff down on it’s head, using the Force again to make the strike much harder than it normally would. The beast crumpled to the ground, silent, and Rey ignited her lightsaber, slicing cleanly through its head.

“It went after a few people in camp last week,” Rey said, making her way to where Kylo sat, watching her with a small smirk on his lips. “How are you doing?” Rey’s eyes found his, and she smiled at him, reaching out hesitantly to slide her hand into his. Luckily, he wasn’t wearing his gloves, and she sighed as his skin made contact with hers.

“Snoke is growing impatient with me. I’m still trapped here, and nothing we’re trying is working. He…” Kylo stopped, realizing he shouldn’t be revealing too much to her.

“He hurt you again?” Rey said gently, looking down at where her hand was resting in his. “Ben…”

“Don’t. Don’t use that name. It’s not my name anymore. I killed that stupid, weak boy.” Kylo’s eyes turned cold, and Rey looked up at him. 

“I’d gladly take Ben Solo’s hand and help him through life. I won’t give up on you.” Rey shook her head before twining her fingers through his, watching as he drew in a shaky breath, tears pooling in his eyes as his bottom lip quivered with emotion.

Rey realized suddenly that her actions were a turning point for him—because she was choosing him when nobody else had. “It’s not too late for you, Ben. I’ll help you. Snoke—he’s using you for your power. Please…”

Ben opened his mouth, his fingers squeezing hers as his eyes showed her more of what he was feeling than he could ever say in words. Their bond hummed, reminding Rey of a lothcat purring happily.

Then he faded away, their bond closing before he could say anything else.

….

On Takodana, days passed slowly as the planet moved through spring and summer lazily. On Anoat, Rey and the other members of the Resistance moved through their daily routines, hoping that someday they would gain the upper hand in the war against the First Order. 

Their bond stayed quiet, and with each passing day Rey grew more restless.

She wasn’t surprised when one night she fell asleep in her bunk in the Resistance camp…

...and woke up in her bed in Mustafar.

….

“Momma! Ashla gets to be with Bogan again? The Force must want them together pretty bad, huh?” The little girl’s eyes were filled with excitement as she looked at her mother.

“That it does, little one. That it does. Now go to sleep, and we’ll finish their story tomorrow, okay?” The woman stood, bending down to place a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “I love you, little one.”

“I love you too, Momma. Goodnight.”

  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

“Now, where were we?” The woman looked down at her daughter, an amused glint in her eyes as she watched the little girl bounce on her bed enthusiastically.

“Momma! You remember! Ashla just woke up on Mustafar! She’s back with Bogan finally!” The little girl crushed her stuffed nexu to her chest in a hug as she looked at her mother with anticipation.

“Ah, yes. I do remember now. Ashla had gone to bed in the Resistance camp on Anoat—”

“Phew,” the little girl interrupted, pinching her nose shut and making a disgusted face as she spoke. “Momma, were her clothes stinky from that trash planet?”

The woman chuckled before shaking her head. “No, I am sure they all had clothes they wore outside the climate-controlled buildings, and they changed before coming inside. Then they all probably took showers in the refreshers so they didn’t smell like garbage.”

“Ok, good,” the little girl nodded. “I just didn’t want her being all stinky when she sees Bogan again!”

The woman chuckled before saying, “Ashla went to bed in the Resistance camp on Anoat, and when she woke the next morning, she was in the bed she had been using while trapped on Mustafar…”

….

When Rey woke, the first thing she noticed was how quiet the camp was. Normally there were voices and the hums of generators, coupled with the clanking of tools in the makeshift hangars in the distance. This morning, there was nothing but the almost inaudible hum of the oxygen recirculators. She opened her eyes curiously, wondering what was going on, and she gasped as she realized where she was.

On Mustafar. With Ben.

She got out of bed quickly, dressing and making her way to the dining hall, her stomach telling her it was breakfast time. She sent out a tendril through the Force towards Ben, letting him know she was near.

She frowned as she got nothing in response. Greeting a service droid, Rey asked it to prepare some food, settling into a chair to wait. A half-hour later, as she was just finishing her meal, Kylo strode into the room, his eyes troubled as they came to rest on her.

“I wasn’t alerted that a ship came in,” he said, watching bemusedly as she licked her plate clean.

“That’s because I didn’t arrive by ship,” Rey stated, looking at her plate in disappointment for a moment. “I went to bed last night and woke up here.”

“Interesting,” Kylo replied before sitting down across from her. His eyes raked over her, looking for anything that might be amiss, and he was happy when he found nothing visibly wrong.

He had been in a strategy meeting when he felt her Force signature grow nearer than it had been in months.He tried to pay attention to the plans being made, especially when he found out that General Hux had discovered evidence of what might be a Resistance base on Anoat. Fear had spiked through him because he knew Anoat was where Rey and the Resistance had set up camp.

Something inside him had changed over the last few months after he had held her in his arms through their Force bond. He had softened, Snoke would say. All because one person in the Galaxy had let him hold her, and had believed him when he told her the story of what had happened the night his uncle’s temple burned.

He had thought about her when the days and nights grew long and he longed for companionship. He thought about how she never looked at him like anything but an equal, and remembered how good her hand had felt in his. Her head against his chest had woken something up inside him, and Kylo was struggling with the man he was—and the man he wanted to be for Rey. They were two vastly different beings—the monster he had let Snoke turn him into, and Ben Solo, the lonely man who desperately wanted to let Rey into his heart and soul.

“You look well,” he said, realizing that what he really wanted to tell her was how beautiful he thought she was, and how much he wanted to hold her in his arms again.

“Thanks. So do you.” Rey’s eyes finally travelled upwards to meet his, and she immediately knew something was wrong. His eyes looked so  _ sad _ , and while that wasn’t unusual for him, she knew something was bothering him deeply. “What’s wrong?” 

Standing, Rey went around the table to where Ben sat and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning down to hug him. She felt him stiffen, and wondered if it was because no one had touched him with kindness and genuine affection for a very long time. 

“You can tell me,” she said softly.

“No, I can’t,” Kylo said, still stiff in her arms and exuding none of the warmth she knew resided within him. “First Order business.”

“Oh,” Rey stood quickly, her face coloring as she turned to walk away. “I see. I guess I’ll go workout some then.” She had reached the door when she heard his voice ring out behind her.

“Rey, I…” His voice sounded tortured, and she could see the conflict in his eyes. “If…” Kylo swallowed thickly as his eyes went to the floor—almost like he was too ashamed to look at her. “If you can contact the base, tell them to get out now.”

He swept past her out the door, leaving Rey to stare after him as he disappeared down a corridor.

“What’s going to happen to them?” Rey asked later that night. She was standing just inside the door to the control room, watching Kylo as he monitored something on the holonet. She was terrified; she hadn’t been able to reach her friends on Anoat.

Just like she had been before, she was stranded here against her will.

“General Hux will launch an attack on their base within the week. Anything living there will be obliterated.” Kylo was matter of fact as he described the attack that would kill every single person she cared about—like he was giving a report on food stuff in storage to someone.

Rey hissed in frustration, glaring at him as she stated, “Just when I think you’re finally becoming the person you truly are inside, you choose to murder everyone I care about. You are the leader of the Knights of Ren, you can order Hux not to attack. You can find a way to help somehow!”

“And how am I supposed to do that, Rey? Even if I wanted to, I am trapped here—just as you are! I couldn’t leave if I tried!” Kylo stood, his chair flipping and crashing to the floor as he did so. “You don’t understand how far I am going for you here!”

Rey watched him, noticing how his eyes turned desperate and sad at his admission. A thought occurred to her then, and she looked at Kylo, baring her teeth and stepping forward to poke a finger in his broad chest. “How are you getting messages from off planet? Is this some kind of game? You’re allowed to get messages and information—but I can’t?”

Kylo watched her, his eyes dancing between hers. “Rey, I don’t know how. I just know… he…”

“Snoke. Snoke is making sure you stay his puppet. Isn’t that what you’re really trying to say,  _ Kylo _ ?” Rey spit out his assumed name, watching as he flinched, his eyes leaving hers to look at the floor once more. “Aren’t you sick of being his faithful little apprentice, Ben? Why are you resisting being your own man? Wouldn’t it be nice to make your own decisions? To have Snoke out of your head once and for all?”

Kylo pulled his eyes upwards once more. He wanted to tell her that yes—he wanted to be his own man—for  _ her _ . He felt something stirring inside him whenever she was near him. A sense of rightness, of calm and contentment he hadn’t felt before.

Just when had he fallen in love with her? Surely, the Force must be toying with him. He wasn’t deserving of a woman like Rey. He had done so much wrong, been abandoned by everyone simply for having an affinity for using the Force. The power he had been given at birth—one that he hadn’t asked for, but embraced willingly—had cost him so much. Any semblance of a normal life, his family, friends—all that had been taken from him because he was powerful. He had been a scared, confused kid, groomed by a maniacal being who sculpted him into a twisted vestige of himself to forward his own goals.

Kylo sat heavily in a chair, running a hand through his hair and heaving out a frustrated sigh. He had to find a way to keep Snoke from breaching the barriers he had erected around his mind. If Snoke found out Rey was with him again, he would demand Kylo train her.

He couldn't let that happen. Rey was too bright, so full of light. To extinguish that light would be to extinguish everything good and pure in the Galaxy.

Rey stood watching him, hoping her words would sink into his soul and take root there. Maybe she could be the one person to influence him, to help him fight against Snoke's nefarious intentions for him. While she no longer viewed him as an adversary, she was still wary of him when he was so entrenched in the darkness.

She wanted to be the one to save him—because as much as she tried to get him out of her head, she was drawn to him. She still couldn’t get her vision of them standing together out of her head. And the dreams—oh, the dreams she had of them spending their lives together! The first one had been disconcerting and confusing, but now Rey felt a certain comfort from them.

Kylo’s jaw worked, his left eye twitching, and Rey knew he was trying his best to hold in his feelings. She could feel it through their bond in the Force—anger, longing and fear. Not so much fear for himself—but for  _ her _ .

Rey tilted her head to one side as a thought came to her fleetingly—one of  _ his _ thoughts that had gotten around the wall he had built up in his mind.

_ I can’t let Snoke get to her. I can’t turn her. _

“You’re afraid,” Rey said. “Not for yourself, but for me. Snoke wants you to train me, to turn me into someone useful to the First Order’s cause.”

Kylo simply inclined his head, and Rey caught the sting of shame that came through their bond. His eyes were haunted as he looked to the floor. His bottom lip started quivering, and Rey took a step towards him.

“Ben,” she said softly, waiting until his eyes came up to meet hers again. “When we touched hands,  I saw your future. As solid as I'm seeing you. I know that if we work together, you  _ will _ turn. You can be the man I see you as inside. The man I think you  _ want _ to be.”

“No,” Kylo shook his head, fighting against her words, against the vision she was so certain of. “The Supreme Leader is wise.”

“The Supreme Leader is using you, Ben! Why can’t you… I don’t know! I just want you to see what  _ I _ see when I look at you!” Rey was shouting now, her words echoing throughout the large room, tears of frustration coming to her eyes. She took another step forward, and then another, until she was standing before him, her luminous eyes looking into his as she reached out and took his hand in hers.

Rey let her memories of her visions and dreams drift through their bond to him, and she heard his breath hitch as she showed him her favorite vision—of them standing in the garden behind a small cottage, holding hands as they watched the sunset together.

Pain burst through her head then, Ben snatching his hand back from hers as if her skin were acidic. “No! No, that will never happen! These visions are just tricks from the Force, Rey—can’t you see that? I’ve seen your future, too. You’ll be the one to turn and stand with me.”

Rey backed away, shaking her head slowly, a lone tear making a slow trail down her cheek. “No. I trust in the Force and what it’s telling me. I know Ben is in there, let him come out. We can change things together.”

“No, no! You’re still holding on! Let go!” His voice roared, echoing through the room, and he took a step towards Rey almost menacingly. She held her ground, though, baring her teeth at him as her eyes stayed on his.

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have too. That’s the only way to be who you were meant to be.” Kylo turned and strode out of the room, and Rey felt something inside her crack as she realized that perhaps she had been wrong. Perhaps there was no light left in Kylo Ren. If that was true—then hope died along with the light inside him.

….

Weeks passed with Kylo and Rey only seeing the other in passing. Their bond was still intact, humming between them constantly. Rey knew that if she reached out with a tendril of Force energy, she would be able to tell where he was in the Fortress, and what kind of mood he was in.

Rey was good at waiting. She always had been. She trusted in the Force—because what else did she really have to trust in? She couldn’t leave, even though she tried to every night.

“You have a special bond.” Rey jumped at the sound of the voice behind her. Obi-Wan stood in a corner of her quarters, leaning against the wall. “One not seen before between Force users in millennia.”

“Do you enjoy sneaking up on people?” Rey said.

“Yes, he does. It’s a talent of his,” said another voice, and a man with sandy hair and piercing eyes that reminded her of Luke came into view. “So, you’re the girl who is bound to my grandson. Interesting.”

Rey looked at the newcomer, her eyes widening. “You’re Anakin Skywalker? I figured you’d be… taller. I mean, Ben is a large man, and you’re… not.”

Obi-Wan let out a very undignified snort, a wide grin on his face as his old friend and former Padawan looked at him, scowling. “Oh, you are definitely a good choice to be bound to a Skywalker.”

“Yeah, and you’re definitely a Skywalker, with your oh so lofty word choices.  Now it makes perfect sense that Ben is your grandson. Why are you both here?” Rey looked between the Force ghosts, slightly annoyed that they were dancing around the reason for their visit.

“We need to talk to you about your bond with Ben Solo,” Obi-Wan started, and Rey waved her hand to silence the Jedi Master.

“You both keep mentioning this bond. I hope your little visit is going to give me more insight into this. Ben is a… stubborn man. He’s not exactly forthcoming with anything he may know. We’re not exactly on speaking terms right now, either.”

This brought a smirk to Anakin’s face. “Definitely my grandson. We have this way of making women furious at us without even trying.”

“He’s not lying,” Obi-Wan deadpanned, and Rey rolled her eyes.

“Please, get to the kriffing point? I have things that need done,” she said, and now it was Anakin’s turn to snort derisively.

“We’ve seen your daily schedule. You’re not that busy,” Anakin said as Obi-Wan nodded sagely beside him.

Rey huffed in annoyance, sitting on her bed. She waited for the men to start talking. She could only hope that when she faded into the cosmic Force at the end of her life, she wouldn’t be as annoying as these two were.

Anakin laughed, pointing at Obi-Wan. “Oh, he can be much more annoying. You should watch him play a game of Dejarik. It takes him months to make a single move.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “I like having backup plans and exploring all my options, unlike some people I know. Remember that ordeal on Florrum? That’s just one example…”

“Would you like me to leave you two alone? You seem to be having a moment…” Rey deadpanned, and both men looked at her almost sheepishly.

“The bond you share with Kylo Ren…” Obi-Wan started, only to be interrupted by Anakin and Rey both as they said, “His name is Ben Solo” in unison. 

Obi-Wan looked at them both, cocking an eyebrow before continuing on, his voice amused. “Very well, Ben Solo. You need to remember that this is a bond forged by the Force the moment you were born, Rey. Snoke will try and convince you otherwise at some point. He wants you with the First Order.”

“This… bond,” Rey said after being silent for a long moment. “It’s not something that happens often?”

“No, it’s not, Rey,” Anakin’s voice was sad as he spoke, his eyes filled with pain and sadness. “The Force needs you and Ben to do the one thing that I could not do as the supposed Chosen One—provide balance. As a Dyad within the Force, you will provide that and bring the Galaxy peace once and for all. As much as Snoke wants to claim it was his doing—it was not. The Force brought you and Ben together for a reason. The balance must be brought back.” 

“Balance. Powerful light, powerful darkness…” Rey whispered, lost in thought as both Jedi looked at each other and smiled before fading back into the aether of the cosmic Force.

….

Pain lanced through his head, and Kylo fell to the floor, his muscles involuntarily twitching as Snoke attacked him. A scream was ripped from him as his Master continued the assault, upset that Kylo had not yet turned Rey to the dark side.

**“I am most displeased, my boy,”** Snoke’s voice roared through his head, and Kylo found it difficult to take a breath as searing pain shot through his body.  **“I have been patient. I have let you keep her with you. Yet, she still has that fiery spit of hope within her. That wretched light I was promised would be extinguished by you. Perhaps I should take her now so that I may begin her training.”**

Kylo screamed, both at the pain being inflicted upon him, and at the thought of Snoke being anywhere near Rey.

**“Ah, there it is. Rearing its ugly head inside you once more. Han Solo and Leia Organa and their disgusting compassion—which you still hold in you deep inside. I see I need to rip it out of you more, to show you the power the dark side holds!”**

As he screamed in pain as Snoke’s attack intensified, he felt Rey approaching. “No!” he screamed out in agony, hoping that she realized the warning was for her to stay away. Luckily, she hovered nearby until, when he was fading into unconsciousness, Snoke stopped his attack, stating simply,  **“Start her training, Lord Ren, or I will. You are running out of time.”**

….

Rey sat beside his bed for three days, waiting for him to come to. Whatever had been done to him had rendered Ben completely unconscious, his face and torso bloody and battered—as if someone had physically assaulted him. Rey had consulted the security footage—and there had been no one in the Fortress but she and Ben and the service droids at the time of the attack. She had watched in silent horror as Ben was attacked and beaten, and when she finally shut the footage off, she was sobbing, because it could only be one person who had done this.

Snoke.

Yet, Kylo still held on, still served his cruel Master.

It was sickening to her. Ben deserved better. He deserved someone to understand him, to stand beside him no matter what. He deserved to be helped back to the light, to become the man he was meant to be—and Rey was the person to do that. The Force intended them to be a dyad, after all, and the Force always seemed to get exactly what it wanted.

Ben woke to the gentle pressure of something across his stomach, and as he looked down to see Rey’s arm looped around him protectively as she slept peacefully, he wanted to cry. No one in his life had ever cared about how he was feeling in such a long time—people were either scared of him or disgusted—but here was this beautiful woman who glowed like the sun, and she  _ cared. _ She saw him for what he was—a scared shell of a man who simply craved to be loved and desired and  _ wanted _ . A man who had been twisted and warped and lied to for his entire life. Pathetic. Disgusting. Unwanted. Broken and unworthy of anything good.

When he saw her on Takodana, everything changed inside him—even though he fought against it. And now… now…

Rey stirred beside him, and her eyes met his, a smile spreading across her face.

It was like the sun rising and beating the darkness away for another day.

“Ben,” she said softly, sitting up and reaching out to cup his face in her hands. His eyes danced between hers, and then he found himself doing something he hadn’t done in years—letting a genuine smile come to his face for her.

She swept downwards, this small, strong, beautiful woman who had stolen his heart, and pressed her lips to his. The whole world twisted, repositioning itself, the cracks and splinters in his soul filled in by Rey—her warmth, her caring—and he pulled back, his eyes searching hers for her feelings, letting their bond tell him what he needed to know.

Finally, he spoke, his breath ghosting across her face, and Rey knew their future was the one she had seen in a vision.

“I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.”

Rey caressed the scar she had given him with her thumb, still smiling at him as she said gently, “Then I’ll have to be your strength when you think you can’t do it, won’t I?”

….

Both of them knew that in order to get Snoke out of Ben’s life once and for all—they would have to work together. So they trained every day, testing the boundaries of their bond and learning how to use it to their advantage in battle.

As close as they had grown, though, Rey was still holding back. She had seen the wonderful, beautiful future they would have together, and she would settle for nothing less. Kylo Ren had to be completely eliminated and Ben Solo firmly in place before she would consider giving him her hand.

Their shared kiss had been the catalyst Ben needed to start emerging from the dark hole he had been residing within as Kylo Ren. Rey watched him bloom before her, more and more of Ben coming out every day they shared together.

There were so many things she learned about him that no one else knew. He was fluent in High Galactic, a written language only known to a few members of the former Galactic Senate. He was a good instructor, harsh when he needed to be to get his point across, and gentle other times. He had the most beautiful handwriting she had ever seen, and he had even started working with her on her own handwriting, which was rudimentary scratching taught to her by one of the old scavengers on Jakku.

He liked poetry, and would sometimes read it to her. Rey would sit beside him and close her eyes, listening to the deep timbre of his voice and picturing him reading to her wherever they settled in the future. Sometimes she would even doze off, settling her head against his shoulder, and she would wake up in the morning on her bed and smile.

They had even taken to communicating through their bond,which would make it easier when the time came for them to face off against their enemies.

On Takodana, a mild winter faded into spring, and as the flowers started to bloom in the sunshine, the dark jewel that was Mustafar became visible in the night sky.

Rey fell asleep on Ben Solo’s shoulder in Fortress Vader and woke up in her old bunk on the Resistance base on Ajan Kloss.

….

“So, the Force is doing this, you are soulbound to Ben, and he is ready to become the man we always hoped he would?” Luke Skywalker commented later that morning. A frazzled Lieutenant Connix had pulled him out of bed right after Rey had walked out of one of the barracks, causing everyone on the base to go into hysterics at seeing her alive and well again. Leia glared at him, while Han smirked as he leaned up against the wall. 

Rey wasn’t amused. She wanted to be back with Ben, back where she could talk to him and see him laugh and fall asleep against him at night. When she had woken up to find herself back on the Resistance base, she had sat up and screamed at the sky, wondering why the Force thought it was funny to keep punishing Ben for his grandfather’s sins.

“We’re a dyad. Ask your father or Obi-Wan the next time you see them,” Rey mumbled, blushing and looking anywhere but at Leia.

“I know what a dyad is—in theory. Two that are one, a power greater than life itself.” Luke said, shaking his head. “I just never thought I’d see one manifested.”

Han chuckled. “Solo men always get the girl. Good genetics and all,” he deadpanned as his wife shook her head at him.

“And Solo men always get saved by the women that love them. Don’t forget that, either,” Leia said, causing Chewbacca to snort from where he was settled into a chair by the door.

“Quiet, furball,” Han grumbled, falling silent again as Luke looked at them all.

“We still have the problem of Ben being trapped on Mustafar, and Rey being, well, not there anymore,” the Jedi Master said, pacing across the room slowly.

“Rey,” Leia said, coming to stand beside her. “Rey, is… is Ben okay? Is he well?” Rey looked at the General and gave her a small smile. 

“He will be. I won’t bring him home until he is. Snoke… he’s been inside his head since he was an infant, Leia. Ben didn’t stand a chance of resisting him. Noone could have helped him.” Rey put her hand on Leia’s shoulder, wanting to offer her some small comfort as tears sprang into her eyes.

“You love him, don’t you?” Leia said softly, and Rey nodded.

“I do. He’s the other half to my soul, Leia. He’s always been there, this tiny shadow deep inside me that didn’t come to the surface until we met.” Rey shrugged, not sure how to best articulate everything she felt inside for Ben.

Leia just nodded before asking, “And Ben loves you?”

Rey blushed before shrugging. “He hasn’t said it. I can feel it, though, I think.”

Leia simply nodded and smiled. “He’s definitely Han’s son. Solo men never know how to appropriately express feelings. Good luck. If - when - you see my son again, Rey… bring him home to us.”

“I will,” Rey whispered, her heart aching as she thought about Ben.

_ Stop thinking so loudly. _

His voice came into her mind, and Rey wanted to cry with joy. At least they had learned how to use their bond to communicate now, so Rey wouldn’t feel so alone as she figured out how to get back to him.

_ Ben! Are you okay? _

_ Yes. Lonely, but okay. _ He sounded sad, and Rey could feel it through their bond. 

_ I know. I feel it too. _

….

Ben’s panic brought her out of her dreams, and Rey sat straight up in her bunk, her heart pounding in her chest and her eyes wild as she tried to grasp what was happening.

_ Ben? Ben, what’s wrong? _

It had been a month since she had been torn away from him, yet they were ever present in the others head. Two words came into her head, and Rey’s blood turned icy in her veins.

_ He’s coming. _

….

Rey dressed in a blind panic and ran to the hangar, climbing into the first space-worthy ship she found. As she got all the systems up and running, the ship’s comm went off, and she heard Leia’s voice.

“Rey, what’s happening? I can feel Ben’s panic. Luke can feel it as well.”

“Snoke. He’s going to hurt Ben if I don’t go to him now, Leia.”

That was when Rey heard the whispers. Ancient voices spoke in her mind, telling her that balance needed to be restored, that the time was now. Anakin’s voice was last in her mind. “Balance must be restored. It’s the will of the Force, Rey. Go to him. Defeat Snoke and break the curse. Do what I could not.”

“Will you even be able to get to him?” Leia asked over the comm, and Rey let the ghost of a smile come to her face.

“Oh, I have a feeling I can.”

“Well, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Be careful. And Rey?”

“Yes?”

“May The Force Be With You.”

_ I’m coming, Ben. _ Rey thought to her bondmate, and her unease grew when he didn’t answer her.

….

It had taken far too long for her to reach Mustafar, and as Rey jumped out of the X-Wing, she was relieved to find that there were no strange ships in the hangar.

_ Ben? I’m here… _

When he still didn’t answer, she sent out a tendril of the Force, relieved when she found him on the other end of their bond. He was still, though, as if he had once more been rendered unconscious by Snoke and his mental attacks.

Following his Force signature, Rey found him in what was once the throne room of Darth Vader—in a sense. The room was foreboding, dark marble, and the bacta tank that the former Dark Lord needed to submerge himself in to stay alive loomed in the shadows. Ben was slumped on the floor, unconscious, and as Rey knelt beside him, she could tell he had been injured even more gravely this time by Snoke.

Reaching down with a shaking hand, Rey touched his bruised and bloody face, closing her eyes and focusing her energy towards him. She opened her eyes with a gasp as his hand closed around her wrist, and as she looked down at him she saw his face was free of the bruises that had been there only minutes before.

“He’s coming. Snoke. We have to be ready.” Ben’s voice was low, and Rey let her eyes drink him in for a moment before she replied.

“I know, but there’s something I need to do first.” Rey leaned down, her lips meeting his in a soft, loving kiss. Ben reached up with his hand, placing it on her neck as he deepened the kiss ever so slightly, and when Rey pulled away they were both breathing heavy.

“I’ve always wanted to take your hand. Ben’s hand. People keep telling me they know me, but no one does,” Rey let her pointer finger trail over the scar that marked Ben as hers, and their eyes met and held as he whispered,

“But I do.” 

“Yes. And I love you, Ben. That’s what I had to tell you.” Rey smiled down at him, and Ben felt the last vestiges of Kylo Ren shatter, leaving nothing behind but the man who had been hidden deep within.

The smile he bestowed upon Rey was genuine and filled with love, and he pulled her down for another kiss as their bond hummed with happiness. Rey let out a gasp as she pulled away, and she said simply, “He’s gone, isn’t he?”

Ben just nodded, the smile still on his face as he gazed at her intensely before saying the words he’d wanted to say since that fateful day on Takodana: “I love you, Rey.”

The proximity alarm sounding made them both jump, and Ben said simply: “He’s here. Remember your training, and remember, I’m not the man I was anymore, okay? No matter what I have to say. We can’t let him know about the depth of our bond.”

Rey nodded, and as Ben got to his feet, the hiss of the door opening had her turning as well, looking for the first time upon the towering, scarred atrocity that was Supreme Leader Snoke. He strolled into the room, dressed in a robe that was almost regal—if it hadn’t been made out of an atrocious shade of golden shimmersilk. Following behind him were six red armor clad guards, each one wielding a dangerous looking weapon as they stepped in unison.

She tried to let her mind go blank, as she had been taught, to erect a mental shield between her and her memories and thoughts. Ben fell to one knee in supplication, his head bowed as Snoke came to a stop in front of him.

“My boy,” Snoke’s voice rang out through the large chamber. His eyes moved to Rey then, and he gave a low, ominous chuckle. "Ah, I see. You've been busy doing my bidding. Is she trained and ready to take on her new responsibilities?"

“She is, Master,” Ben said, not daring to say anything else.

Rey gritted her teeth and concentrated on keeping her mental shield in place, watching as Snoke's eyes came back to her, looking her up and down. "Come closer, child," he said in an almost sickeningly sweet tone. "Closer, I said," he said after a long moment in which Rey stood stock still.

Then she was moving towards Snoke against her own free will, the tips of her boots dragging along the obsidian floor.

"There. That's better," he said when she was suspended in the air in front of him. She could feel his Force signature as it entered her mind, inky and foul. She steeled herself for the invasion she was certain would come, and as Ben fed her some of his energy, the shield was made even stronger—impenetrable even to Snoke’s probing.

“Interesting. I see my faithful apprentice has trained you well. Let’s see if he has taught you about the first lesson I taught him when he came to me all those years ago—pain is power.”

Force lightning crackled from Snoke’s fingers, and as it struck Rey she tried to combat it, tried to shield against it, but as pain lanced through her body, sizzling her flesh until the blood in her veins was quicksilver, she opened her mouth and shrieked. She wasn’t capable of anything else, was rendered incapable of fighting back. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more agony, the attack stopped, and she dropped back onto the ground.

“Kneel before me as your Master, and accept your position beside Kylo Ren as my apprentice. Fulfill your destiny, and help create a new Galaxy.” Snoke withdrew from her mind, and Rey reached out for Ben, finding nothing but silence on the other end of the bond. Still shaking and weak from his attack, Rey went to Ben’s side, kneeling down and glancing over at him. His eyes went to hers briefly, and he inclined his head slightly, letting her know that when the time came to act, he would be with her.

Rey gasped as her lightsaber moved from her belt to Snoke’s gnarled hand, and he chuckled as he ignited it. “Ah yes. This was well crafted. Lord Ren crafted his own lightsaber in this very Fortress, you see. It’s only fitting that he shall help you bleed your own crystal in the same place. The Dark Side is strong here, can you feel it, Rey of Jakku?”

Snoke moved further into the room, stepping onto the raised dais that contained the remnants of Vader’s old bacta tank. Settling onto the throne-like chair that still rested there, he let out a long sigh before remarking, “I see the bond I forged between you is still firmly in place. It was truly a work of art, seeing it fall into place so easily. I hope that you will teach her how to use it to our advantage, Lord Ren.” Snoke settled Rey’s lightsaber onto the arm of the throne beside him, looking at them both.

Ben remarked, “Oh, I think I have.”

With a simple swirl of one finger, Ben turned Rey’s lightsaber towards Snoke, igniting the blade so that it sliced through the sinew and bone of the creature that had been responsible for making him into Kylo Ren. Another quick flick of his finger had the yellow bladed weapon flying through the air, and as Rey grabbed it with one hand they both leapt up to their feet as Snoke’s guard swept in, intent on their destruction.

_ Remember what we trained for, sweetheart. Back to back. Don’t let them get an angle… _ Ben’s voice was almost amused and casual as it came into her mind, and Rey sidestepped half of Snoke’s corpse, keeping her back to Ben’s as they engaged the guards.

_ I know. Now let me kriffing concentrate… _

Time slowed when you were in battle, seeming to go on forever. As she pulled her lightsaber out of the last guard’s body, she heard Ben’s voice in her head.

_ I could use a little help here. Your saber? _

Rey turned to find Ben with one of the guards weapons at his throat, his lightsaber on the floor near him. She extinguished her weapon and tossed it towards him. Rey watched as he deftly caught and ignited it, the yellow laser going smoothly into the last guard’s forehead.

“You couldn’t just call your saber to you? The men in your family really are infuriating, you know that?” Rey’s tone was half joking, half serious as she took a few steps towards Ben as he extinguished her saber, the body of the guard slumping to the floor behind him.

“It was more dramatic the way I did it,” Ben replied, a grin coming to his face as he watched Rey approaching.

“Oh yes, and being dead would have even added to the dramatic value, right?” Rey said and Ben shoved his shoulders upwards in a shrug, the grin staying on his face and widening.

“I wouldn’t stay dead long, I can’t be away from you. I’d be the most dramatic Force ghost ever.” Ben stopped talking as Rey stopped in front of him, reaching out to poke him in the chest.

“I don’t want you dead, you kriffing idiot!”

“If it’s any consolation, I prefer being alive,” Ben stated, watching as Rey’s eyes narrowed slightly before she launched herself at him. He caught her at the last moment, her lips crashing down on his.

“You’re free,” Rey stopped kissing him long enough to whisper, her lips still against his. “You’re finally free.” 

“I’m free,” Ben agreed, his arms tightening around her.

….

“The Force is happy, isn’t it? With us?” Rey said softly as Ben traced patterns on her upper arm the next morning, as they woke together in Ben’s bed.

“It is,” Ben answered. “It’s always meant for us to be together like this. A true dyad. I wish I knew you were out there a long time ago, Rey. I never would have made the same mistakes I did if I knew you were out there waiting for me.”

“Well, we’re together now, and that’s not going to change. How about we get off this kriffing planet and go start our life together? Something tells me that you’ll be able to leave now.”

As they stood and dressed, they knew that today was the first day of their new life—one spent at each other's side until they would someday fade into the cosmic Force together. As they walked towards the hangar, Rey stopped in front of a transparisteel viewport, gasping as she caught sight of the once black soil that surrounded the Fortress.

Murakami orchids grew as far as the eye could see, glowing with a light of their own as they swayed gently in time with each other. Their Force signatures all reached out towards Ben and Rey, expressing their happiness and joy at the dyad restoring balance within the Force—and by giving them their home back, one that had been destroyed millenia ago when the Dark Side came to be so powerful on Mustafar.

Ben leaned down, kissing Rey again, and they walked hand and hand into the hangar of Fortress Vader, leaving the lava planet behind a few minutes later as they hurtled towards Ajan Kloss and their new life.

….

“Oh, Momma, that is the best story ever! Ashla and Bogan are still together, aren’t they? Are they still in love and kissing each other a lot?” The little girl was nestled in her bed, her eyes sleepy as she looked at her mother.

“Oh, yes,” the woman smiled tenderly at her daughter. “They are still together and very much in love.”

“I hope I find a boy like that to love, Momma. But I am  _ not _ kissing him. Kissing is gross.”

The woman smiled and tweaked her daughter’s nose playfully. “Kissing is pretty gross, but then you find the one person you like kissing, and you know—that’s the person you want to be with forever. Now get some sleep, little one. We have visitors coming tomorrow, remember?”

“I remember! Night, Momma.” The little girl closed her eyes, and was fast asleep by the time her mother closed her bedroom door.


	5. Chapter 5

Life had been good to Ben and Rey Solo. They had fought with the Resistance against the First Order, had used the power of their dyad to defeat Palpatine once and for all—and after the Galaxy was at peace they had travelled it together.

They had started a family together, and their triplets were now grown and had families of their own. Having children hadn’t stopped them from exploring the galaxy, and finally they had settled on a place to make their home.

Yavin IV had once been a source of great pain for Ben, but the Force kept guiding them there, and so they had listened. Then, after a boy had shown up one day, claiming that there was something awake inside him, and it had guided him to them, they had built an academy for Force sensitives in the ashes of the one Ben’s uncle had started. Now their son Ryden was the Master there, and was training the newest generation of Force users.

Looking over at her husband—who, at age sixty—still had the most glorious hair she had ever seen, even though it was now streaked with silver, Rey grinned. They had just gotten the proximity warning letting them know they had arrived at Chandrila, and Rey was excited to see their only daughter, Leia Rose, and their six-year-old granddaughter, Kestra and her three-year-old sister, Bryn. Leia had recently found out she was expecting their sixth grandchild, and both she and Ben were looking forward to having yet another grandbaby to spoil.

As Ben piloted their ship onto the landing pad near their daughter’s home, Rey wasn’t surprised to see Kestra waiting for them with Leia and her husband, all of them smiling as Ben shut down the engines and opened the ramp for them to exit.

“Nana! Papa!”

A whirlwind of dark curls came hurtling at them, and as Ben hoisted her onto his shoulders she whooped with joy.

“Papa! Momma told me the story of Ashla and Bogan and the orchids on Mustafar! Can we go to Mustafar to see them some day?”

Next to Ben, Rey eyed her daughter, arching one eyebrow at her. “You told her our story? Isn’t she a little young for some of that?”

Leia grinned and looked over at her husband, “Well, I left out some of it and sugar-coated the murder-y parts, of course. It’s a good story, Mom. It’s part of who I am, and who she is. It’s our family’s story.”

“It’s a pretty good story, isn’t it? Now, I need to talk to you about Braxis. Have you talked to your brother lately?”

“Oh, what has he gotten himself into now,” Leia muttered, and her husband simply shook his head as the two women started talking in low voices, their heads bent close to the others.

On Ben’s shoulders, Kestra bounced happily before leaning down and planting a sloppy kiss on Ben’s cheek. “Papa, can I show you my newest Force trick? I used it on Ced Wexley last week because he tried to hold my hand…”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Ben muttered, and Rey reached out and grabbed his hand as they walked as a family inside the house.

**Author's Note:**

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> May The Force Be With You!


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